Mortality from prostate cancer in Italy: 1950-1979. Cross-sectional rates and cohort analysis

Mortality trend from prostate cancer in The Netherlands (1950-1989)

The trend in prostate cancer mortality in The Netherlands was studied, using data from the National Causes of Death Registry of the Central Bureau of Statistics. During the period 1950-1989, the age-adjusted mortality rate showed a steady rise from 20.5 to 30.6 per 100,000 man-years. A multiplicative model was used to examine possible period effects and birth-cohort effects separately. This analysis demonstrated that the increase in prostate cancer mortality is largely due to a birth-cohort effect, though calendar time of death may have had a slight effect as well. Among Dutch men, a continuous increase of mortality from prostate cancer was found in consecutive birth cohorts. This finding is in contrast with that of comparable studies in other Western countries, in which a peak mortality rate was found for the cohort born at the end of the 19th century with stabilizing or declining rates for later birth cohorts.

Parallelism in the mortality clustering of the most frequent cancer sites in Italy and in the Marche region

Clusters of selected cancer sites mortality, regarding Italy and the Marche region, were compared. Very similar associations were found both in males and in females, in particular between the alcohol-tobacco-related sites. Many clusters agree with the international literature, while others could constitute a starting point for formulating new hypotheses.